• December 21, 2024
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Third-quarter offensive spree propels No. 6 Stanford over UCLA, 86-80

Stanford comes back from a double-digit deficit to beat UCLA

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STANFORD, Calif. – No. 6 Stanford held off a tenacious UCLA squad on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Maples Pavilion, 86-80. The win was impressive as the Cardinal played without the inside presence of 6-3 junior forward Nadia Fingall who is out for rest of the season after tearing her ACL Friday in a game vs. USC. She was averaging 8.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Maya Dodson, who averages 9.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, is also out indefinitely with a foot injury.

Given the injuries and the talent of UCLA, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said “it took everything that we had to guard them and pull out the win.”

“We were able to do that I think because first of all, the people on my left and right, Alanna [Smith] and Di [Carrington], really came to play. They scored, they played defense, they rebounded, the really led the way for everybody. They’re two captains, they’re doing a great job of being leaders by their example on the floor. And for the most part, played the whole game.”

The Bruins came into Maples with high hopes after defeating top-20 California on Friday in across the Bay in Berkeley. They displayed their confidence early on by racing out to a 14-6 lead over Stanford by midway through the first quarter fueled by treys from senior guard Japreece Dean.

The Cardinal fell behind by 11 points before recovering to initiate a run to end the period. UCLA went into the second quarter with a 24-23 edge.

At the outset it appeared Stanford was firmly back on the comeback trail in the second period as sophomore guard Kiana Williams opened with a layup and a free throw to put Stanford in the lead 26-24. However, in a quarter where the Bruins did the most damage, UCLA went on a 9-0 run led by Dean plus Lindsey Corsaro and Ahlana Smith helping out by draining treys. UCLA outscored Stanford 21-15 in the second period and went into halftime ahead 45-38.

Stanford ramped up the defensive pressure in the third quarter to overtake UCLA, scoring 26 points compared to 12 by the Bruins. The effort was a deliberate attempt to shutdown UCLA’s prolific scorers.

VanDerveer on her team’s strategy in the second half and her message to them during the break:

“Just play defense…let’s tighten up our defense. We had to get punched in the face before we started to fight, we can’t play that way.”

Cardinal senior forward Alanna Smith also increased her offensive output, scoring 15 points in the period with a diverse array of shots. Her teammate Williams put a bookend on the quarter with a steal in the last seconds and raced down the court for a layup. Stanford entered the fourth quarter leading 64-57.

UCLA couldn’t make free throws down the stretch which hurt their chances of overtaking their opponent. The Bruins were 46.7 percent from the line (7-of-15) compared to 82.4 percent by Stanford (14-of-17).

In addition, throughout the game, both teams went on spurts of attempting three-point shots. However, for UCLA, the trey fest was not the best idea according to their head coach.

“We should not be shooting the same amount of threes as Stanford,” said Cori Close. “They are better at that than we are.”

While UCLA bested the Cardinal 23-22 in the scoring column in the last period it wasn’t enough to eke out a win.

Junior guard DiJonai Carrington led Stanford with 30 points plus nine rebounds while Smith tallied a double-double of 24 points, 11 rebounds plus five blocks. Williams also had a double-double with 21 points and 10 assists.

Four UCLA players earned double-digits: Dean (22 points), freshman guard Lindsey Corsaro (14 points, four rebounds), sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere (11 points, 12 rebounds), and senior guard Kennedy Burke (11 points, eight rebounds).

Stanford heads on the road to face Arizona State on Fri. Jan. 11 and Arizona on Sun. Jan. 13. UCLA goes home to host Oregon State on Friday and Oregon Sunday.

Notes

Stanford’s postgame festivities started with a somber note as the Cardinal honored the lives of loyal fan Marian Cortesi and 30-year women’s basketball office manager Dee Dee Zawaydeh-Johnson. Both passed away recently.

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